Background, aim and scope Although life cycle assessment is frequently used in scientific studies of product comparison, many practitioners are looking for improvements in the normalisation, grouping and weighting of life cycle inventory results. Local conditions, which are well known to local experts, are very important to these steps. The goal of this work was to develop a computer-based decision support system for classifying wood products according to their influence on the environment in their whole life cycle. The model specifically addresses local conditions in the Republic of Slovenia and was developed by Slovenian experts. Materials and methodsWe used the approach of multicriteria decision making (MCDM). We developed a multi-attribute model that includes key parameters that influence the burdening of environment. The parameters are organised into a hierarchical structure with several levels in such a way that they form a hierarchy with unidirectional hierarchical relationships between levels. The aggregation of parameter values is carried out by utility functions which were defined according to the analytic hierarchy process method on the basis of 52 experts' findings, which were gathered with the Delphi method in three rounds. Results The main result is a multi-criteria model for the assessment of wooden products. The model consists of 104 criteria, grouped into 28 subtrees, addressing various processes of production. Each criterion in the model has an associated weight, and each entry criterion has an entry function. The model has been used to assess different product concepts with the purpose of supporting decision making for the environmentally most suitable product concept and for analysing products with the intention of finding out more environmentally friendly products. Discussion The weights in the model indicate that a preliminary production of auxiliary materials and energy consumption represents the biggest impact of wooden products on the environment. In preliminary production, the most problematic are preservatives, coating systems and glues. In energy production, the most influential are gasoline and petroleum. Emissions are most affected through water and air, whereas solid wastes and energy emissions are less important. With wastewaters, the most critical is the presence of organic criteria. With waste air, more important is waste air appearing directly in the production and less the smoke gases from devices for acquiring heat and electricity.

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• There are not many wooden products that consumers would buy on pure impulse. Their decision regarding the purchase of a product normally undergoes a process of consideration -the

• The number of senior citizens is rapidly increasing, which consequently signifi es an increase in the number of people having sight, hearing or memory diffi culties, people with hampered mobility, and people who fi nd it increasingly diffi cult to process information. Elderly persons experience a greater degree of risk whilst performing daily tasks in their kitchens. Moreover, they are more susceptible to infection and illnesses, necessitating greater care to achieve hygienic conditions within their kitchens. The goal of our research was to determine ispitanika. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju kako ljudi ne znaju da bi uz prikladniju opremu brže, lakše i sigurnije mogli obavljati svakodnevne zadatke. Starije osobe u kuhinji prije svega imaju probleme s održavanjem higijene -68 %, s neodgovarajućim rasporedom kuhinjskih centara -56 %, s neadekvatnom rasvjetom -32 %, s nepropisno dizajniranim namještajem -72 %, s problemima slabijeg pamćenja -75 %. Vjerujemo da je potrebno projektirati kuhinjski namještaj prilagođen specifi čnim zahtjevima starijih osoba.Ključne riječi: kuhinja, starije osobe, oprema, dizajn, sigurnost, ergonomija quality of life in general. The majority of fl ats are designed for young, fi t, and active people. Many senior inhabitants do not possess these attributes, meaning that even performing the simplest home tasks is more taxing for them. Furthermore, inappropriately designed housing space can lead to health issues such as backache or injuries from accidents. Research has shown that adapting living space to the needs of the elderly can reduce the risk of injury by 30 % -50 %. The age of the furniture and equipment in their homes also plays an important part in determining functionality. According to research, 60 % of the senior population lives in homes that have not been renovated or refurnished for over 20 years, contributing to lower safety and comfort levels, (Home Remodeling..., 2006). Comfort is crucial for the elderly, as they spend most of their time at home. Over 14 % of English elder citizens live in unfi t conditions, in homes that are in dire need of renovation and adaptation (Boyo, 2001). Yet only 10 % of them decide to modify their existing furniture and equipment to refl ect their special needs (Gilderbloom et al, 1996; Katsura et al, 1989). They often refrain from renovating due to fi nancial concerns, lessening mobility and fear of the upheaval of renovation work. Furthermore, the research also shows that the elderly also suffer from inappropriate room dimensions including rooms that are too big for them (West and Emmitt, 2004).According to data issued by the Statistical Offi ce of the Republic of Slovenia, citizens over the age of 60 accounted for only 11.84 % of the changes made to residences in 2008. Other data suggests that senior citizens rarely decide to change their home environments, which contributes to a lowering of comfort levels and environments ill-suited for accommodating residents with special needs, and to lower safety levels. Most people are also ...

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